


Selective Memory

by spooky_fox



Category: Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5999797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spooky_fox/pseuds/spooky_fox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What might have happened if C’rizz had been affected by the nanoforms in Memory Lane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Selective Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Title from a song of the same name by The Eels

C'rizz felt like he had been knocking on doors up and down the street for hours. Identical doors, behind which were identical old ladies in identical sitting rooms.And all identically TARDIS-free. He was beginning to feel like like that figure in the old stories who was forced to search for a particular blade of grass in the steppes as punishment for angering the gods. C'rizz couldn’t remember exactly what it was that had angered them so much. Probably nothing much. The Old Gods were a capricious lot.

Now that he was older, C'rizz knew that most of the stories his mother had told were cautionary tales, to stop children from straying too far or to teach them respect for elders. His mother…

Caught up in the craziness of his new life, C’rizz had managed to avoid thinking about his family. But he thought of them now and a painful lump formed in his throat.

Lost in his own thoughts, C’rizz didn’t notice at first when the houses with neat front lawns gave way to scrubby bushland. It wasn’t until the asphalt beneath his feet turned to packed earth that he looked around and realised with a jolt that he knew where he was. This was the patch of woodland near his childhood home where he had used to play. He looked over his shoulder. Behind him the street was still visible, stretching monotonously into the the distance. He hesitated, then pressed on into the bush.

It was one of those warm summer evenings that C’rizz had always loved. The sun was going down and the earth was exhaling the stored heat of the day. He and his cousins had used to play outside for hours until the light got too poor and their parents would call them in for supper. Sometimes they’d go swimming in the river and try to catch fish with their bare hands.

Almost as soon as he had the thought, his feet brought him to the banks of a river where it cascaded over rocky steps and formed deep pools. A gaggle of Eutermesan children were playing in and around the water. One of them came running up.

“C’rizz!” It was his cousin Hani, a hatchling of five summers. He tugged on C’rizz’s shirt. “C’rizz come and play hide and seek with us!”

“Alright” C’rizz took his cousin’s hand, wondering why he had been surprised. They often played here. Hide and seek was Hani’s favourite game. Even if he did still get worried sometimes that he’d hide and never be found, and so would always tell everyone where he was hiding. A strong pair of arms grabbed C’rizz around the middle, jerking him rudely from his thoughts and tossing him in the water.

He emerged gasping and spluttering. His big brother C’dir was standing on the banks laughing fit to burst. “Right” thought C’rizz, “We’ll see about that”. He submerged again.

When C’dir stopped laughing C’rizz was nowhere to be seen. “C’rizz?” he called warily, “where’d you go?” A couple of the hatchlings were stifling giggles. C’dir edged closer to the water. “C’rizz wheAHH!”

C’rizz burst from the water where he had been lying camouflaged and seized his brother around the shoulders, hauling him under. Then they were rolling and wrestling and yelling, much to the delight of the younger ones.

They played by the river until it got dark and the flickering lights of the village were visible between the trees. Then they all trooped back to their houses, peeling off from the group in twos and threes until it was just C’rizz and his brother walking back to their house on the far side of the village.The warm sweet air filled C’rizz up. For the first time in a long time he was perfectly happy.

Of course, it couldn’t last. As they approached home, they could see figures silhouetted against the light. C’rizz recognised his mother and, with a twinge of anxiety, his father. There were three other creatures that he did not recognise. His first horrified thought was that they had no skin. The he realised that they did have skin but it was soft and pink as a newborn Oroog. The overall impression was one of great fragility. C’rizz was seized with a desire to run. He stopped dead.

“C’dir” he whispered urgently. “We need to get out of here. Those people are going to take me away. I don’t want to go with them.”

C’dir gave C’rizz’s hand a comforting squeeze. “Don’t worry C’ssir” he grinned, using his pet name for C’rizz. “I won’t let them take you”. Then he puffed out his chest and flushed a bold shade of crimson.

One of the creatures came running up to them as they neared. C’rizz thought it might be female but he wasn’t sure. “C’rizz!” she cried, “do you recognise us?”

C’rizz blinked. Something in his brain clunked into place. “Charley?” Charley beamed at him.

“Are these friends of yours C’rizz” asked his mother. C’rizz opened his mouth to reply and found he couldn’t speak. He nodded mutely. Something inside him ached.

The Doctor put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, C’rizz” he said softly, “but we have to go now. You know this isn’t real.”

C’rizz nodded again. “Wait a minuet” he managed. He turned back to his family.

“Who are those people?” asked C’dir

“Just some friends. I have to go with them. I’m sorry” Then he turned to his mother and embraced her. In that hug he tried to put everything he couldn’t say. I love you. I miss you. I’m so sorry. He hugged his brother, nodded solemnly to his father, then he turned and walked back to his friends and he did not look back.


End file.
